Martin FX Silk and Phosphor (Custom Light .011-.047)

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Diane Kauffmds
Posts: 3246
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2014 8:13 pm

Martin FX Silk and Phosphor (Custom Light .011-.047)

Post by Diane Kauffmds »

Martin FX Silk and Phosphor – (Custom 0.011-0.047)

Strings generously provided by: Strings By Mail,( https://www.StringsByMail.com )

Link to strings: https://www.stringsbymail.com/martin-mf ... -4340.html

Martin silk and phosphor MP3.mp3
Continuing with the theme of reduced tension guitar strings, Martin’s Flexible Core, FX Silk and Phosphor Strings, looked like an interesting choice. With flexibility comes control, and Martin developed these strings for absolute control over your playing. If you like to bend notes, Martin Flexible Core strings are right up your alley. However, they’re useful to the rest of us as well.

The strings are supplied in a cardboard box, containing separate paper envelopes for each string. I’m all about the packaging, since I often buy several sets of strings at once. In this instance, Martin fell short since air can reach the strings, causing oxidation. Happily in this instance, the strings were bright with no oxidation.

Right out of the package, I noticed that the strings had a soft, silky feel. They’re low tension strings, so they’re very easy to string and tune. They came into tune easily and by the next day, they stayed in tune, which was quite impressive. Along with their smooth, silky feel, they had almost no finger squeak as I worked up and down the neck. I found a small amount of finger funk just after stringing them, but after running my cleaning cloth over them, I never saw it again. If I had to choose a word for their sound, it’s “pure”.

The strings produced a pure voice, that wasn’t complex; it didn’t have nuances of harmonics, or complexities. The sound was as pure as newly fallen snow, and it was wonderful. All guitars depend on intonation to sound good. If your guitar's intonation is off in the slightest, you’ll notice it with these strings, because of their unwavering tone. This would make them an excellent choice for stringing a newly built guitar, to adjust your intonation. When combined into chords, the chords rang true and pure as well. But the strings truly shined during complicated pieces; they combined to make the overall music beautiful, yet added a quality that only a true separation of the notes can bring. They produced an unbelievable sustain and their projection was good, especially considering the light gauge.

As I mentioned, they’re low tension strings. They’re ideal for vintage guitars, for beginners with sensitive fingers, or for those of us with a physical challenge, making regular strings difficult to play. Although they were low tension strings, they never fretted out or caused fret buzz, even with the low action on my OM.

I loved the strings, but will try a different gauge next time. They quickly succumbed to the torture of down tuning. It took only 3 days of down tuning string 1 (treble E), to D, before the string broke. I replaced it with a Martin bulk string and continued testing. It became clear early on, that the strings would never hold up if I continued to retune, so I stopped playing the piece of music that required retuning all strings. After about 30 hours of playing, I noticed that the strings were harder to keep in tune, and therefore were ready for the big guitar in the sky. At a price of $ 4.95, they performed admirably. I really liked the pure tone that they produced so I will buy another set, but I’ll choose a heavier gauge.

The Good:

Very clean with almost no finger funk
Almost no finger squeak
Pure, clean sound
Quick break in, held tuning
Held up to humidity and temperature change
Low tension without fretting out; esp. good for those who have physical challenges or older guitars
Low price

The Bad:

The packaging could be better
Not made for tuning changes (a higher gauge may work)[/size]
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Diane Kauffmann
Country Roads Guitars
countryroadsguitars@gmail.com
Benjy
Posts: 156
Joined: Sun Jan 18, 2015 8:49 pm
Location: Irmo, SC

Re: Martin FX Silk and Phosphor (Custom Light .011-.047)

Post by Benjy »

Diane, you are doing an AWESOME job on these reviews!
THANK YOU!
Benjy
Diane Kauffmds
Posts: 3246
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2014 8:13 pm

Re: Martin FX Silk and Phosphor (Custom Light .011-.047)

Post by Diane Kauffmds »

Benjy wrote:Diane, you are doing an AWESOME job on these reviews!
THANK YOU!
Benjy
Thank you Benjy; I appreciate you saying that! I'm happy to do it for the forum, and I have a lot of fun doing it.
Diane Kauffmann
Country Roads Guitars
countryroadsguitars@gmail.com
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